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2005 Sundance Altamar- how to pull control panels up?


valvashon

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Sundance Altamar, one owner.  Installed in 2005 at our previous house.  By the time we were ready to move in 2014 the small control panel had stopped responding and just before we were going to list the two speed (?) pump had developed a bearing noise.  I pulled the pump meaning to have it rebuilt (there's a good shop in Tacoma, WA) but getting the house ready took precedence. 

We had the hot tub moved to our current house and set down on the driveway under the existing deck.  Plan was to rebuild the deck to hold the hot tub.  Plan came to fruition this year.  Poor Altamar sat on the driveway neglected and ignored for about 7 years.  I did little save for making sure to put a couple of heat lamps in the surround during the few below freezing days we have here in Seattle.  It's now cleaned up inside (mostly) and out, waiting on some work on the surround wood and a good stain and seal.  I did get the motor/pump rebuilt and it does hold water with seemingly no leaks.  We are looking forward to using it (after a deep clean inside!) after we get the electricity run to it. 

I do need to pull the control panels up and off for obvious reasons- the small one doesn't work and the large one had some Morning Glory grow through it (I'm a bad person).  I've had a cursory look but can't really tell how these pull up and off.  Any suggestions?

Thanks-

Val

I also included two of moving day; one of it on the driveway and one about to be lifted up on the deck.  FYI deck has been structurally engineered to hold weight of hot tub and occupants.

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Wow. Congrats on finally getting it going. 

The controls are held in with a two sided foam tape, and can be removed, slowly and carefully, with a screwdriver or prybar. Use some cardboard or such to protect the acrylic under the prybar. Tie a string to the wire before you pull it out so you have something to pull the new one through with.

I recommend you use ahhsome spa purge, maybe several times, before you use the spa.

 

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Some topsides are held in place from underneath. 2 screws go through the topside before the overlay is put in place. Some will have butterfly nuts holding it, Some have a small compression fitting that pulls up and squeezes the topside in place from underneath. Some just have the double sided sticky foam holding it down. Always a good idea if you can get up inside the cabinet and feel for a butterfly nut or holder before prying up on the topside and breaking it.

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  • 2 months later...

As a followup- the electricity was finally run to the hot tub today and I finished filling it with water.  Flipped the breaker and- Jets!  More jets!  Heat!  Circulation pump!  The bubbleator!  Everything on this tub seems to work after sitting for 7+ years (except for the small control panel, which wasn't working before).

I still haven't pulled the control panels up- I tried prying but I felt too much resistance.  I re-read the posts and saw that I should loosen up some of the spray insulation from underneath first, so I will try that once I get the tub cleaned with spa purge and drained.  My newly rebuilt motor does have a slight chirp at the slow speed so I will be inquiring with the rebuild place about that.  And I occasionally get a FLO and or CIRC error as I'm switching modes but they never stay on and everything is working as it should. 

Here is how it sits today.  I have done the center sections (and will do the rest) with Benjamin Moore Arborcoat Semi-Transparent Leather Saddle Brown.  It's a little dark but the wood surround was in terrible shape so this should help hide the sins a little bit. Plus at night it disappears into the deck and you can't even see it sitting there from the sidewalk.

Made a little error when ordering the new cover and the straps ended up in the middle but I figured out a way to attach the holders.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

the control panels are just  on with foam backed adhesive tape use a metal putty knife and work around it  a new control may or may not come with a new "adhesive gasket: so check when you order

 

If its just the small remote panel check to see if its plugged in in the electrical box (turn power off)  it plugs into the ribbon cable from the big control 

 

the small one is often unplugged because they cause errors I unplugged mine for that reason. IF you decide to replace small panel  tie a string onto the cable end BEFORE you pull the cable   makes install much easier to use the string to pull new cable 

 

big control  pulling it up wont allow you access to to fix the screen  they are sealed you would need to replace it

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  • 1 month later...

The fun continues with this one.  The rebuilt motor had to be reworked as it started just "buzzing" when power was applied.  I had to pull it out and take it back to the rebuilder.  It was well out of warranty as it sat in my basement for a year after the first time I brought it in.  They did some work including a new start capacitor and it was less than the first time so I guess I'm OK with it. 

The cleaning continues and we should be able to get into it later in the week! 

I had the light assembly out in an effort to try to upgrade to a color changing LED but couldn't find anything suitable.  Went to reassemble everything and ended up breaking off one of the lever tabs on these terrible WAGO 255 connectors. 

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Couldn't get the connector to open after the lever broke off so I just ended up soldering the wires directly to the circuit board (I use a soldering iron almost daily in my job so this was a natural choice).  Some research turned up what appear to be an improved connector with larger lever paddles which might make it easier to push.  If I ever end up placing a Newark order I may get one of the improved ones and replacing it.

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Also, see picture of screwdriver prying up the control panel.  I looked underneath and also put a scope camera inside of the cavity where the control panel lives.  There is nothing coming down into the hot tub body from the panel so on this model it really appears that they are held down with some quite strong double stick tape.

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